The middle-age fantasy that became a nightmare

By Neil Tweedie

12:00AM BST 24 Jun 2000

IT was, according to Rod Richards, a simple change in plan that led him into an encounter with two women who would later accuse him of assaulting one of them.

Mr Richards was in London for meetings last July and had intended to meet his friend Nigel Evans, the Tory MP, for dinner. But at the last moment Evans had to pull out of the engagement. Mr Richards told the court that he had been at a loose end and decided to visit Richmond, where he and his family lived during his days at Westminster. He decided to have a meal at his favourite restaurant, the local Pizza Express. But fate took him first to the nearby Victoria Inn, where he met Cassandra Melvin and her sister Tiffini.

Although married for 25 years, he felt no qualms about pursuing a sexual relationship with either of the sisters, should they be interested. He told the court that his "domestic arrangements" at that time permitted such adventures. Both the Melvins said that they had not been interested in Mr Richards and he admitted he did not find them particularly attractive, but they agreed to have a meal at Pizza Express.

According to staff at the restaurant, the three seemed to get on well. The sisters, who were both unemployed, allowed Richards to pay for the meal, claiming they had no money. It was then agreed that he would return to their flat for a coffee so that they could pay him back for their share of the £41 meal.

When the three arrived at the flat in Kew, Richards sat on a cushion on the floor. But suddenly, and inexplicably, the mood turned sour, and what had been a "pleasant, quite jovial" evening turned into something rather more alarming. Cassandra Melvin grabbed Mr Richards and manhandled him out of the flat, telling him it was time to leave.

Mr Richards had to push open the front door because he had become jammed there as the sisters tried to close it on him. He then fled to Mr Evans's flat, where he did not mention what had happened because he was so embarrassed.

The sisters' version of the events were quite different. Cassandra Melvin told the court that her sister had complained that Richards had touched her and made sexually explicit remarks while the two had been alone in the living room. She then asked him to leave. Under cross-examination, Tiffini Melvin said that Mr Richards had not touched her but that she had become concerned by his increasingly strange behaviour.

The sisters claimed that as he left the house he lost his temper and began pushing the front door. The sisters said they managed to force it shut but 20 seconds later Cassandra Melvin opened it again to check if Mr Richards had gone. She then claimed he punched her in the face, before throwing her against a parked car, fracturing her elbow.

In evidence, Richards said he did not understand the women's mood change and denied using obscene language and hitting Cassandra Melvin. Summing up, Lady Mallalieu, QC, counsel for Richards, told the jury that her client had nearly fallen prey to the temptation that many middle-aged men felt when in the company of good-looking young women. "This is the very stuff of middle-aged fantasies," she said.